Archive for July, 2013

Just what do you do when you happen to be at the pinnacle of your game? Why, you improve of course – remaining at the same place would just ensure that your competitors will catch up with you and eventually take over the coveted top spot that you used to occupy. Well, the Razer Naga MMO gaming mouse has been pretty much the best gaming mouse for the MMO genre to date, and also the best selling one, too, but even the best needs a kick in the butt once in a while, and that is exactly what Razer has done by offering the Razer Naga MMO gaming mouse 2014 edition.

This all new Razer Naga will boast of enhanced ergonomics, a re-designed mechanical thumb grid as well as a revolutionary in-game MMO configurator which should be able to make sure that your MMO gaming experience will never be the same again. For starters, its iconic 12-button thumb grid will now come outfitted with mechanical switches for increased tactility, speed and actuation assurance. Each of the buttons on the thumb grid will stand out in a more pronounced way than before, making it possible to blind-find them so that gamers can execute commands in a jiffy. Apart from that, its ergonomic form factor has also been updated, delivering a broader shape so that your hand will feel more comfortable holding it.

Both the fourth and fifth finger rests will now come with a gentler down-slope in order to promote better grip while reducing fatigue over an extended period of play. Not only that, Razer’s latest Naga will also boast of a tilt-click scroll wheel which can click in and out as well as left and right, giving gamers even more buttons than before at their disposal. This is definitely a nice bump from the 2009 predecessor, and if you are interested in upping your game, then the asking price of $79.99 for this puppy should not deter you, right?

One of the most important things about photography is having the right light. Even with the best camera, your pictures will turn out terrible if you have poor lighting. On the other hand, perfect lighting can make even a snapshot from your phone look great. The obvious solution is to invest in a nice flash, but what if you need something other than just white light flashed at your subject? Sometimes you need a device that can provide a range of different colors, and until now, that’s been very difficult to come across.

The Kick is probably one of the most versatile lights that I’ve come across. Using rows of LEDs, you’re able to shine white light onto your subject, just as you would with a regular flash. However, once you’ve paired it with a smartphone, you’re able to do so much more. First, you can simply change the temperature of the light by using some of the presets in the app. Want to create a specific mood with different colors? You can go into the color picker and select virtually any color that you want to shine.

If video is your thing, the Kick has plenty to offer there, as well. Let’s say that you have a character that’s sitting by a fire. Obviously, you’ll want to see the effect of the fire’s light on the person and the room. You can actually load up footage of a fire, and it will shine light accordingly. Another example used was flashing lighting during a thunderstorm. The possibilities are endless. If you need to add some color to your photos and video, you can pick one of these up for $179.

Do you remember growing up in the 1980s and the early 1990s? The Nintendo NES did take the world by storm, where it popularized the home videogame console genre, sending the Atari 2600 into the consumer electronics retirement home along the way. One thing about the NES was its library of games that definitely appealed to a wide range of gamers, and it opened up the imaginations of millions of kids, too. When the SNES arrived on the scene to succeed where the NES left off, Sega’s Genesis has delivered 16-bit gaming goodness for quite some time already, and with the $54.99 Genesis Arcade Ultimate Portable Console, you can roll back the years by enjoying 80 pre-loaded games right out of the box.

The Genesis Arcade Ultimate Portable Console comes with TV-Out capability, not to mention an internal battery that delivers anywhere from 4 to 6 hours of gameplay on a full charge. This means you can just tote around this little puppy without worrying about removing those mint looking carts from your video game collection at home. Some of the games include Altered Beast, the Golden Axe trilogy, and Sonic the Hedgehog I and II, just to mention a few. Games will be played off the SD memory card, and you can once again settle the score with your mate over a round of Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition or Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers.[ Genesis Arcade Ultimate Portable Console copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Being a parent is a lot of work. There are times where you need a few extra hands, and another pair of eyes. Unfortunately, if you don’t have anyone else around, extra appendages are hard to come by. Thankfully, there are plenty of gadgets out there that can help with some of the issues that can come up while trying to raise a child (or two).

If you’ve ever taken your child out to the store, and lost sight of them, you truly understand what it means to panic. Despite being a good parent and keeping constant watch over them, children can disappear around a corner in the blink of an eye. This type of scenario is exactly what the Wootch was created.

The Wootch looks like nothing more than a brightly-colored digital watch for children. However, it’s more than just a portable timepiece. The watch also houses a Bluetooth transmitter that will talk to your smartphone, and let you know exactly where your child is. Should they get more than 16 feet away, you will actually get an alert on your phone, letting you know that they’ve wandered off too far. Finally, there’s a “FindMe” button, that your child can press, that sends an alert to your phone.

I think that this concept is brilliant. Sure, some people will say that good parents won’t ever lose track of their children, but those people are simply underestimating how sneaky a kid can really be. What I think is so great is that the device is hidden in plain sight as a watch. All you need to do is get your child in the habit of wearing their watch whenever you take them out of the house. And should the worst happen and someone abducts a child wearing one of these, they won’t think to remove the watch, so there’s a better chance of the child hitting the “FindMe” button, and being found quickly. You can get your own by funding the IndieGoGo project, and pledging just $30.

Summer is in full force, which means everyone is trying to find creative ways to beat the heat. This is especially important if you have kids, because you want them to be outside having fun, but you don’t want them to get overheated. One of my favorite past times involves a group of friends shooting each other with squirt guns. The only downside to this fun was that you had to keep stopping to refill them. But what if you had a squirt gun that never needed refilling?

This Flood Force Water Cannon from Swimways is like a squirt gun that has an unlimited ammo supply. The only downside is that you’ll need to be in a pool to take advantage of that feature. However, it does have a reservoir, should you want to emerge from the water and track down someone to soak. Otherwise, just make sure that the base is submerged, and crank away at the handle to ensure that everyone within range is just as wet as you are.

This fun toy is a cheap way to have some summer fun, at just $15. Unfortunately that doesn’t include the cost of the swimming pool that you’ll need to enjoy it to its fullest. You’ll have to buy that separately.

Nintendo certainly had a good thing going with their Mario Kart series that kicked off on the SNES, and the karting genre never really looked back after that. In fact, Super Mario Kart opened up the world to interesting possibilities as Mode 7 on the SNES offered gamers a totally different way of looking at games. Many a time, I am quite sure that you have argued with your friend over whether who is correct in a certain situation, and since the both of your are gentlemen, there is only one way to resolve this – through a round of Mario Kart! However, there are times when you do not have access to an emulator or a working SNES, which is where this Mario Kart 7 – Drift IR comes in handy, sporting multi-direction steering with drifting action. Depending on the character you choose (Mario, Luigi, or Donkey Kong), it retails from $29.99 to $84.99.

At least you need not spend your time trying to invent high-octane mini cars and blue spiked shells with wings and homing capabilities from scratch, as the Nintendo R/C Mario Kart! Control is all you need. Sporting variable channels for racing with friends, you can be sure that life will never be the same again, although you would need some talent to ensure that whatever course you have set up will be fair and challenging at the same time. [ Mario Kart 7 – Drift IR copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

So you are currently indulging in your daily exercise regime that has a careful balance of cardio as well as strength building sessions in order to keep up your fitness and maintain a prime physical condition regardless of your age. In the past, there weren’t too many tools that one was able to make use of in order to keep track of one’s progress, but fast forward to the 21st century, and we have a plethora of apps to accompany our smartphones as we pound the pavement or make like a hamster on a treadmill. Well, Magellan does not want to lose out on this market segment, having announced the Magellan Echo smart running watch which happens to be the company’s very first running watch that will make use of smartphone fitness apps to their full potential, where it is capable of wirelessly connecting them to your wrist.

Now that you are able to enjoy real-time fitness data that is streamed straight from your smartphone to the watch display, not to mention having the ability to remotely control connected apps, the Magellan Echo will ensure that you remain informed all the time, as well as remain in control regardless of the run.

Marking a first where a running watch is concerned, the Magellan Echo owner is able to simultaneously check out fitness data, notifications and achievements which are shown on your smartphone. Using Bluetooth Smart to hook up to your smartphone sans wires, the Magellan Echo will depict the elapsed time, distance and other fitness metrics with but a glance. Apart from that, the Magellan Echo will also ensure that users have control over a range of smartphone functions that will include start, stop or lap on your fitness app, apart from next song, play and pause on your music playlist.

Expect the Magellan Echo to be made available to the masses sometime in the fourth quarter of the year, with a recommended retail price of $149.99, or if you want it to arrive with a Bluetooth Smart Heart Rate Monitor, then do be prepared to fork out another $50.

When it comes to wireless speakers, you can more or less say that these are dime a dozen. In fact, there are just so many different brands out there, that it can end up pretty difficult in making a purchase decision. Who knows, you might even end up more confused after checking out the numerous reviews online. Soundfreaq, a name that one would be familiar with where critically acclaimed line wireless speakers are concerned, has recently announced the launch of Sound Spot, which happens to be part of its repertoire of devices – coming in the small form factor that does not flinch when it comes to delivering impressive sound quality, and doing so sans wires courtesy of Bluetooth wireless connectivity.

Sporting a mid-century design inspiration, the Soundfreaq Sound Spot can offer a clean, modern look, one that is unique to other portable speakers, all the while ensuring that your carefully planned home décor plans are complemented. In fact, those who are interested in picking up the Soundfreaq Sound Spot can do so by choosing an all black model or one which comes in a wood-and-white design, retailing for $69 a pop. Of course, these are not the only colors available, since you can pick them up in other colors when summer comes to a close and fall kicks off.

Thanks to a custom-engineered, full-range driver and carefully tuned ported housing, the Sound Spot is acoustically balanced in a way where it can complement anyone’s musical taste thanks to Tone Control settings. The Sound Spot is more than ready in “traveling” just about anywhere around the home thanks to its diminutive form factor and integrated rechargeable lithium-ion battery that is said to last for up to seven hours of AC-free listening. Not only that, the Sound Spot will also boast of a USB power port, enabling you to power up your handsets even as the Sound Spot runs on battery power.

When it comes to sports, I really admire those photographers who have fantastic equipment to go along with their skill – especially when they capture those immortal moments of sporting glory, such as Muhammad Ali knocking someone out, or Mike Tyson biting Evander’s ear off. How about Roger Federer picking up his first French Open title? Well, if you are your son’s biggest fan on the soccer field, then you might want to get the $1,200 Sports Analyst’s Camcorder as part of your parenthood arsenal – after all, you would not want to miss your son’s match winning goal, do you?

Not only that, regaling such a tale to your family and friends are not going to make the cut, unless they see for themselves. This is what the Sports Analyst’s Camcorder does – it will be able to capture slow motion video, while sending it sans wires to a tablet computer, and coaches and athletes are able to analyze the performance. Of course, parents with dough to spare can do that, too, as mom records the young tyke, while dad does the analysis. This camcorder is capable of shooting high-speed video at up to 600 frames-per-second, sporting a 900% higher frame rate compared to your everyday camcorder, with the ability to play back super slow motion video that makes it useful to know where one has gone wrong in a golf swing, ball kick, or baseball pitch. Hardware underneath the hood includes a back-illuminated 1/2.3″ 12.8 megapixel CMOS image sensor and a wide angle F1.2 lens, 10X optical zoom, optical image stabilization, and the ability to record video in 1920 x 1080p high-definition video at 60 fps.[ Sports Analyst’s Camcorder copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

For those who have been in the PC gaming scene for more than a decade already, you would know that when it comes to high end gaming peripherals, serious gamers basically do not compromise with the kind of equipment that they use. Some of them have their preferred brand that they would stick with, and that is perfectly normal. ROCCAT Studios is one of the big league names, where this Hamburg-based manufacturer of competition gaming peripherals has just announced the immediate availability of the optical version of its award-winning Kone Pure gaming mouse.

Yes sir, at long last, this latest addition to the ROCCAT Studios gaming mice family would mean there is a Kone Pure available regardless of your preference – if you want the maxed out DPI of a laser mouse, there is something for you, whle others who prefer the unique feel of an optical sensor gliding over their mousepad, will also have something to smile about. The Kone Pure Optical is said to merge the design innovations and ergonomic shape of original Kone Pure, measuring roughly 91% the size of the Kone, while boasting of an ultra-accurate, cutting-edge Pro-Optic optical sensor.

Not only that, the Kone Pure optical gaming mouse will also come equipped with high-quality Omron switches, in addition to ROCCAT innovations such as Easy-Shift[+], Easy-Aim, and ROCCAT Talk, and a high-end sensor that has an adjustable DPI of up to true 4,000 DPI.

ROCCAT founder and CEO René Korte said, “The new sensor featured in the Kone Pure Optical is the successor to the sensor featured in the famous Savu mouse. The Savu drew praise from gamers and reviewers alike, who complimented the mouse for its accurate and reliable tracking. Building on this success, the Kone Pure Optical has a new and more powerful MCU, which features more memory, and two new native DPI steps.” The new Kone Pure Optical gaming mouse can be yours for $69.99 a pop.